A new experiment

I was shown how to make felt beads by a work colleague who has recently started felt making but is concentrating more on jewellery. It is a therapeutic process which requires patience and can be done while watching the television.
To start, you need a small amount of wool which you make into a ball shape. You then wrap more wool around it and dip it in some hot water. The tricky bit is to gently roll it into a ball shape without allowing it to go flat. It only needs the slightest pressure (I was a bit heavy handed initially and my first bead took quite a while to get right!). You just add more wool, carefully wrapping it round and dipping it in the hot water. You also add a tiny bit of soap, to encourage the scales in the wool to starting sticking to each other. It is up to you how many layers you put on and how long you roll it for, but the idea is to make a firm bead.

The beads above are the ones I made in a couple of hours and I am really pleased with them. I am going to make enough for a bracelet and earrings but I haven't decided on the colours yet - probably shades of blue...